What is wrong with my squishy brakes!

[Carmen S]

I drove my 2011 Edge Limited AWD to a diner. When I was done, I was pulling out of my parking spot and when I tried to stop, I had to push the brake pedal all the way to the floor and it felt very squishy. When I did this, only the front brakes were stopping the car. It wasn't a unison stop from the front and rear. The dealer has had it for 10 days and it's still not fixed (but that's also due to them lying and saying they are working on it when in reality it's been sitting in its own bay since Friday untouched).

 

Some background:

- Rear brakes just got replaced last week when this happened

- Brake booster already has been replaced in the past

- Squishy brake pedal.

 

I am at a loss for what the problem is. Anyone, do you know what is wrong here! There were no dash lights when this problem arose so I'm lost.

Anything would be greatly appreciated!

[bb56]

I didn't realize how squishy my brakes have become until I drove my wife's car to get it inspected. When I got back into mine, I realized just how soft my brake pedal really is. I can't even make the tires squeal with a hard stop. I tried double pumping them and felt them come up a bit. I looked around other postings and tried doing a couple of panic stops in forward and reverse and it appeared that my brake pedal was harder after that. I also did forward and reverse ABS stops with the passenger side on some grass. 

The pedal seems a bit more firm at the moment but I will have to see what happens after she sits in the garage overnight.  I had the brake booster replaced last year when it failed completely (sinking pedal, whistling noise) and I was a little disappointed in the soft brake when I got it back. I expected it to be rock hard given the work the dealer did. I'm thinking they may not have bled the brakes properly so I will try that next.

 

I used Forscan to see if my 2011 LTD has the  ABS brake bleed maintenance procedure but all I could find was the self test which it passed. Has anyone used forscan to bleed the brakes properly?

 

Has anyone replaced their bleeders with speed bleeders? If so what sizes are they?  My standard bleed procedure for a long time has been to use a long clear hose that is always pointing up and magnetic clipped to the roof of the car. This way I can see the fluid and bubbles rise from the driver's seat when I pump them. I also remember from way back that you should never bottom out the pedal as it causes the rubber piston to contact areas of the bore that never get smooth in the master cylinder. I wonder if that's true any more.

 

So I'm going to buy a liter of brake fluid and bleed all four in the right order. if anyone has suggestions or experience doing a straight bleed without the ABS bit, please tell me before I make it worse!

 

Many thanks!